


romance for the romantics

by firsttraintovictoriaville



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Shinki as an unsuspecting rival, brief mention of body image issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:09:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24649258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firsttraintovictoriaville/pseuds/firsttraintovictoriaville
Summary: As an artist Inojin had heard a lot about how artists were romantic by design. Too bad that (false) stereotype paled in comparison when it came to him trying to ask Chocho, the self proclaimed expert of love and romance for Konoha, out on a date.
Relationships: Akimichi Chouchou/Yamanaka Inojin, Nara Shikadai/Ryougi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	romance for the romantics

Inojin had heard of plenty art related quotes and stereotypes in his life thus far; the pen is mightier than the sword, love is blind, a picture is worth a thousand words. That an artist was a creature dreamt up by romance itself. It was a lot of pressure for a guy, I mean the girls that he knew were always expecting something more from him because of it, like he had to be a super special type of dude because he could draw. Inojin was confident in himself but that also meant that he knew his limits. 

Chocho was never like that, it could be that because they were part of Ino-Shika-Cho that Chocho saw him as not necessarily an artiste but as a regular everyday dude or worse yet a brother. He didn’t know when he started fearing the fact that Chocho could see him as nothing more than a non blood related sibling but it had happened. Not that her seeing him as a regular dude was anything better. She had once told Mitsuki, as in the son of Orochimaru who could shoot snakes from his arms and was made in a lab, that he was ordinary in both looks and lifestyle. If Mitsuki didn’t stand a chance then what did that mean for Inojin? 

In times like this, he did what any boy his age would do. He talked to his friends and when Boruto reacted by asking him if he was aware that Chocho’s Butterfly Mode wasn’t her permanent appearance multiple times and Shikadai said that it was a drag to deal with inter team crushes and that they had a legacy to uphold. 

“But even if Chocho and I end up married, there can still be Ino-Shika-Cho! We can have two kids Inoko and Chota.” Inojin said to Shikadai after making his case. They were outside of a bookstore on an escort mission for the wife and kids of some high level Iwagakure council member who was in a meeting with Konoha’s own high level council members. Chocho was inside the store helping the family carry their purchases. 

“You like her enough to marry her?” Shikadai asked. He knew that Chocho had already had her dream wedding in mind but it was Chocho. She ran on potato chips, lip gloss, and love of herself, others, and the very concept of it. 

“No, yes, I mean I was just saying that the eighteenth generation can still happen as normal.” 

“Yeah but what if the next generation of Shika-Ino-Cho gets messed up because ‘Chota’” Shikadai made quotation marks around the name. “Can’t do a single Partial Expansion jutsu and ‘Inoko’” those same quotation marks once again “can along with every other jutsu that exists except Mind Transfer. My contribution to the next generation is already iffy, like there’s a fifty percent chance I’ll be unable to make the next Nara. If things keep going the way they are with Ryogi it’s looking at one hundred percent.” 

So Inojin was the weird one for thinking about kids names for Chocho and his kids but Shikadai could talk about how a marriage to Ryogi could mean that he was unable to have the next Nara? Which wasn’t true because there was always adoption and anybody with the last name Nara automatically got an extra five hundred IQ points just for having the last name which meant that Future Nara could totally do Shadow Jutsu. Inojin knew that his crush on Chocho and Shikadai’s bisexuality were two very different situations but he was still gonna be upset about it! It was his right! 

Chocho stepped out of the bookstore with a sigh. “My arms are so tired. They barely even bought books, they just kept wanting every single ninja card pack they could find. The both of you didn’t need to stay on guard, one of you could have helped me inside!”

“Why Chubs? So we could have held your potato chip bag for you?” Inojin teased before getting hit with the image of Chocho and him sharing a bag of consommé potato chips and realizing that the fingers they would be reaching around in the bag for a chip for and then bringing to their lips would be one and the same which would make it an indirect kiss. In some way. Listen, Inojin was going to take what he could get at this point. 

“Shut up Whitey! Like I would ever let you even come near my potato chips!” Chocho hmmphed and went back into the store. 

Inojin slapped his hands over his face. He was just as clueless as his dad when it came to love but unlike his dad, Chocho couldn’t whisper the right answers into his ear.   
“As someone who’s in an actual relationship, the goal of dating is to not have your partner be mad at you. It’s the exact opposite. That’s why they call it liking someone.” Shikadai patted Inojin on the shoulder and Inojin cursed all of his ancestors from sixteen generations ago. 

Inojin went home that night, kicking himself and being overall miserable to the point where he didn’t even touch his dinner. He had inherited his father’s overall lack of appetite but even so he would always manage to eat at least a third. This time staring at his grilled chicken just made him think of Chocho. 

“Inojin, do you feel ill?” Ino asked. 

Inojin looked up from his plate and decided that there was no better time than the present. “Mom, did you ever have a crush on Uncle Choji or Uncle Shikamaru?” He hoped she would answer with Uncle Choji to let Inojin know he wasn’t the first Ino to fall for the charms of a Cho and due to his heterosexuality he would be unable to fall for Shikadai’s charms. If he had any in the first place, he loved Shikadai like a brother which meant that he had no idea what Ryogi saw in him. Maybe it was hard to find someone else that was into board games. 

Ino looked over at Sai who was not bothered one point by the question and added a tomato slice to his plate. The way he smiled did let Ino know that he was paying close attention to how she would answer which did make her want to blush like she was still sixteen.   
“No. Neither of them are my type.” The way Ino said made it clear that she was telling the truth. “Why did one of them mention having a crush on me?” 

“Impossible. Shikamaru said he likes blondes but not that blonde and Choji said that you were very far from the types of girls that he’s ever been attracted to.” Sai happily ate his tomato slice, pleased with the fact that he didn’t have to worry about anyone trying to take Ino away from him. 

Ino, long used to Sai’s remarks (for the most part at least) turned her attention back to her son. “Inojin, no matter what you can tell us anything. You’re our son and we’ll always love you.” 

“I have a crush on Chocho.” It was beyond embarrassing to admit it to his parents. What was he doing? He needed to never tell anyone about this ever again because it wasn’t like there was a chance that Chocho would like him back anyways. 

“Chocho is a nice girl, quite pretty. You two have my blessing.” Sa said with a smile.  
“Inojin, there has never been a romantic relationship between the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clans in our history. At least on record, if there were any couples that fizzled out before making it to the altar or a birth certificate they were lost to history.” Ino said. Her eyes were gentle and she got up from the table to hug her son. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t be the one to stop that.” 

“Wouldn’t that ruin everything our clan has worked for?” 

“Not if you’re happy.”   
“Why don’t you ask Chocho for romantic advice? She knows plenty.” Sai said as it was the obvious course of action. 

“Dad, how can I ask her for advice if she’s the one I’m trying to date?” Inojin couldn’t believe his dad half the time. He loved him but he was a weirdo. 

“Why, isn’t that the ideal situation?” And so Sai proceeded to literally draw out a plan for Inojin with help from Ino on how to use Chocho’s own talents against her. 

Inojin’s big break arrived next week when Shikadai was off on his bi-weekly visits to Ryogi at the prison and Chocho and Inojin were left to fend for themselves. Every other team was having their own trainings until nightfall and neither Inojin or Chocho had the leader instinct in them to tell the other to train. 

“I never thought that Shikadai would end up with someone like Ryogi. Not because Ryogi is a dude but because he’s from the Land of Snow. I thought Shikadai would stick to somewhere closer.” The two of them were out at the park sitting on a bench, Chocho watching a romantic comedy and eating chips while Inojin flipped through an art history book. It made him happy that they didn’t need to say anything to spend time together. They could just enjoy the presence of one another. 

Chocho shrugged. “He would say it’s a drag but Ryogi was the one who moved here so it’s not like Shikadai was doing anything more than sitting around.” 

“Have you thought about travelling? Do you dream about going to some far away place to find the love of your life?” 

Chocho hit pause. “As of right now, there are no extraordinary boys in Konoha. Shinki’s one of the cuter you look at him types so I wouldn’t mind going to Suna to see him again.” 

Shinki. The son of the Kazekage and the toughest fighter that any of them had seen. The guy who’s teammate/friend/brother/cousin/whatever was happening in Suna that Inojin didn’t care about had knocked Inojin flat out in mere seconds. Someone that was without a doubt extraordinary. 

Still, his mom had warned him about this, about all of the rivals he would have to fight in order to win Chocho’s heart (she neglected to mention how many rivals Sai had to fight off to win her) and that he couldn’t let that stop him until the end was officially declared. “ I couldn’t do that. Everything I need is right here in Konoha.” 

That got Chocho’s attention. “Do you have a crush on someone?” 

Inojin could feel his shoulder shaking but knew there was no way to stop it. “Maybe~ Chubs, you’re not the only one who can have crushes you know.” 

“I know that! Who is it? Is it someone I know? Is it Sarada?”   
Inojin blanched at the thought of dating Sarada. He liked her but he didn’t want Sasuke as a father in law and he knew he was way too dumb to be able to date Sarada and understand the words that were coming out of her mouth. “No!” 

Chocho’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you say no like that? She’s my best friend and you would be lucky if she even breathed in your direction.” Chocho grabbed her things and left without saying goodbye. 

Inojin knew that in the visitor’s area of the Konoha prison Shikadai was laughing at him over his game of Shogi and Inojin couldn’t blame him for it. 

Inojin begged Shikadai to help in exchange for a month-long supply of anything at Thunder Burger that Shiakdai wanted. With an offer like that Shikadai couldn’t refuse, even if he did want to watch Inojin squirm some more like the best friend that he was. 

Thankfully, Chocho was always the first one to bring up Shikadai’s relationship as she still hadn’t gotten over the fact that one of her friends had found love. The second best thing other than having romantic love yourself was watching the people you had platonic love for have their own love stories as she would say. Inojin didn’t want to bring up the fact that her saying things like that made him fall deeper into romantic and platonic love with her. 

“The best part about going to visit Ryogi is seeing his eyes. I’ve always liked green eyes.” Shikadai said it so convincingly that even Inojin was believing it. 

“I know what you mean.” Chocho sighed. “Shinki has green eyes too.” Was Shinki her new obsession or what? Inojin could handle hearing Chocho go on and on about actors and singers because he knew that there was no chance of Chocho ever being with them but Shinki was too much of a real possibility. Shinki was going to grow up and be the Kazekage while Inojin worked at the flower shop and painted for fun. It was clear which life Chocho was going to want to be a part of.   
“Blue eyes are nice too.” Inojin said. He did have nice eyes, he would be the first one to admit, his parents always told him that he had pretty eyes since he was a baby. And eyes were the windows to the soul as his fellow artists in arms, the poets would say. “My favorite eyes are amber though.” That was a new trick that Inojin had learned- he needed to say what he wanted to say and quickly before Chocho could take his words the wrong way. 

Chocho, amber eyed and all, didn’t seem to be affected by this. “Yeah, blue eyes are nice. You have nice eyes Inojin.” 

Inojin’s shoulders shook. “Thank you Chocho.” 

Shikadai needed to get out of there. He had done his part and whether Chocho rejected Inojin or accepted him, it was a drag to have to stick around Thunder Burger to watch it play out. “I have to go help my mom around the house. We’re painting the living room.” Shikadai got up with his tray. 

“I thought helping your mom around the house was a drag.” Chocho said, the drag coming out of her mouth in a poor imitation of Shikadai’s voice.

“She’s going to make me do it either way. At least if I choose to help her out she’ll let me off the hook earlier.” Shikadai waved them goodbye and headed home. 

“Shikadai is lucky. He never had to worry about being too fat to be loved.” Chocho was always mature both in her excitement for marriage and love but also mature in the way that people typically meant as a good form of maturity of being an adult aware of all the challenges in life but she sounded so hollow as she said it. Inojin had known Chocho since birth but it was the first time he had ever seen her look dejected. It wasn’t even that she looked dejected, she looked like she had accepted her lot in life and realized that there was nothing that she could do to change it. 

Inojin wasn’t dumb he knew Chocho was fat. And she was. Chocho was fat as she was brown-skinned, as she was friendly, as she was confident, as she was the most unstoppable force that Konoha had ever seen in its history. She was as fat as she was beautiful. 

“Are you planning on asking out Shinki?” Inojin was using the final lesson from what his Mom had taught him. This was the moment where he either lost gracefully or won respectfully. 

Chocho laughed. “No! First of all, I don’t think he believes in dating. If I asked him if he wanted to go on a date next time he was in Konoha he would ask me if it was some new slang for a battle. Not to mention I’m probably not his type.” She wasn’t laughing anymore. 

“You’re my type.” Inojin said, shoulders shaking and blood rushing to his ears. He was hyper aware of every single person in the Thunder Burger even when he knew logically that they weren’t paying attention to him. “My ideal type. I like you Chocho. I like you more than a friend.” 

Chocho turned her carton of fries so that it faced Inojin. “You like French fries more than potato chips, don’t you?” 

“I do but-” What did French fries or potato chips have to do with anything? Was Chocho that bothered by the conversation that she wanted to pretend it hadn’t happened before even saying that she was going to pretend it had never happened? 

Chocho cut him off. “Fries are the second best way of eating a potato and since you don’t like potato chips, I can’t share them with you so,” she pulled out the best looking French fry from the carton and held it in front of Inojin’s face. “Will you take my French fry?” 

Inojin nodded and leaned in like he was going to take it with his fingers before biting the French fry from one end and slowly making his way to the other, his face burning up all the while. 

Chocho squealed and quickly dropped the fry on her end when she realized what was happening before adjusting herself and putting the remaining end into her mouth and meeting Inojin. Their kiss was greasy and their noses bumped each other head on a little too harshly but for a first kiss for either of them, it was perfect. They could improve later on. 

“Oi Inojin! Are you kissing Chocho?” Boruto asked, coming inside with Sarada and Mitsuki. 

Inojin and Chocho broke away. Chocho rolled her sleeves up. “Why are you saying it like that? Have you never seen a couple on a date before?”

Inojin tugged on Chocho’s sleeve before she could use Partial Expansion jutsu. “Ignore them and let’s keep on eating.”

Chocho stuck her tongue out at Boruto and Sarada gave her a smile that promised that she needed all of the details later on before she dragged Boruto and Mitsuki to the ordering line  
.   
“You’re better at romance then I was expecting.”

“Well, I had to do something special if I was going after the expert. I didn’t want to make a mistake like what happened with my Dad during the Mind Transfer.”

Chocho gave a soft smile. “You did good in helping your parents all things considered plus watching you practice your Mind Transfer so hard was the day my crush started.” She had held and hugged Inojin before but as he fell into her arms, trusting her to watch over him as he took over someone else’s mind felt different. She had been hyper aware of how Inojin felt, at the smoothness of his skin, and the way he smelled of paint and flowers. 

“You’ve been liking me for a long time then huh Chubs?”

“Don’t get too cocky Whitey!” 

The two of them reached out for each other under the table and held hands for the rest of the meal.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I will pair up Chocho with every single age appropriate guy she shows interest in because it is what she deserves. Also the parallels between Sai and Ino and Chocho and Inojin during the Mind Transfer Jutsu episode!!! The tender way you have to hold someone while they are entering someone else's mind!! That's Yamanaka Clan Romance 101!! 
> 
> also I'm on tumblr @ the same name for more ramblings on a petition to rename Boruto to Chocho and a prayer circle that if we ever get Naruto the III Chocho ends up with someone she had been on screen with so we can look back and track the romance.


End file.
